PRESS RELEASE
Subject: Dr. John Ronald Lowe
born 7-16-56 (Chestertown, Maryland)
Sovereign Nations / identity falsely claimed: Cherokee, Lenape, Creek, Osage, Powhatan (at current count….)
Determination: Zero American Indian ancestry found in Dr. Lowe’s genealogy and zero connection to any legitimate tribal nation
Date: 3-6-24
Dr. John Lowe, an educator in the nursing field whose academic work has focused on American Indian populations, has falsely claimed, for several decades, to be a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, to be Lenape, Creek, Powhatan (and related to Pocahontas) AND Osage (related to the Osage women documented in Killers of the Flower Moon). None of which is true.
Dr. Lowe has falsely claimed, for decades, that his father, James Thomas Lowe, Sr., (11-16-23 / 12-14-14, born Prince Edward County, VA) was a full-blooded Cherokee man. In fact, his father was purely of European ancestry. He falsely claimed that his father taught him how to be Cherokee, which would be impossible. He claims that his paternal “Cherokee” grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Woodall (b. 1882 / 10-30-33 b. Farmville, VA; she was a woman of purely European ancestry), who only spoke Cherokee, raised him on the Cherokee Qualla Boundary… We suspect he was actually raised in Chestertown, Maryland. The problem with that claim is that she actually died 23 years before he was born. His mother, Mary E. Betty Seward (12-22-28 / 3-10-78 b. Dixon, Queen Anne’s, Maryland), whom he says died when he was a small child, actually died when he was a young adult, in 1978. He claims his mother was half Lenape. This is not true either. But this is how he claims a ¾ blood quantum. A very bold lie for a white man.
Investigative Report Summary
Subject: Dr. John Ronald Lowe
born 7-16-56 (Chestertown, Maryland)
Sovereign Nations / identity falsely claimed: Cherokee, Lenape, Creek, Osage, Powhatan (at current count….)
Determination: Zero American Indian ancestry found in Dr. Lowe’s genealogy and zero connection to any legitimate tribal nation
Date: 3-6-24
Dr. John Lowe, an educator in the nursing field whose academic work has focused on American Indian populations, has falsely claimed, for several decades, to be a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, to be Lenape, Creek, Powhatan (and related to Pocahontas) AND Osage (related to the Osage women documented in Killers of the Flower Moon). None of which is true.
Dr. Lowe has falsely claimed, for decades, that his father, James Thomas Lowe, Sr., (11-16-23 / 12-14-14, born Prince Edward County, VA) was a full-blooded Cherokee man. In fact, his father was purely of European ancestry. He falsely claimed that his father taught him how to be Cherokee, which would be impossible. He claims that his paternal “Cherokee” grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Woodall (b. 1882 / 10-30-33 b. Farmville, VA; she was a woman of purely European ancestry), who only spoke Cherokee, raised him on the Cherokee Qualla Boundary… We suspect he was actually raised in Chestertown, Maryland. The problem with that claim is that she actually died 23 years before he was born. His mother, Mary E. Betty Seward (12-22-28 / 3-10-78 b. Dixon, Queen Anne’s, Maryland), whom he says died when he was a small child, actually died when he was a young adult, in 1978. He claims his mother was half Lenape. This is not true either. But this is how he claims a ¾ blood quantum. A very bold lie for a white man.
John Lowe talks about his “EBCI relatives” who live on the Qualla Boundary but never names them. Who are they, exactly? Name them, Dr. Lowe. Have them come forward to claim you.
Dr. Lowe’s genealogy also shows zero Lenape, Osage, Powhatan or Creek ancestry. His genealogy proves that he has no American Indian ancestry whatsoever.
https://emfp.org/sites/default/files/uploads/MinorityNurseFall2008.pdf
In Minority Nurse-an article by John Lowe tells the story that his father was a Cherokee Indian living in North Carolina on the reservation. Reference to the official letter from the Eastern Band Cherokee Indians that John, his father, and none of his siblings are members of that tribe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg46tJpV_Y0
Mental Health Trailblazers talk with the MFP (Minority Fellowship).
https://news.miami.edu/sonhs/stories/2021/11/a-conversation-with-john-lowe-phd-96.html
Conversation with Dean Munroe. Claims to be an EBCI Tribal Member.
All the genealogy and documentation can be found on the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds website under “Investigations”, then “Dr. John Lowe”.
https://tribalallianceagainstfrauds.org/
You can also see the victim impact statements we are collecting there regarding the very real harm that Dr. Lowe has caused actual American Indian people. As they come in, they will be posted.
Dr. Lowe has taken funds intended for bonafide American Indian people.
He took SAMHSA Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) funds to fund his personal doctoral schooling by falsely claiming to be a “Cherokee tribal member”, which is yet another outright lie.
https://nursing.utexas.edu/faculty/john-lowe
UT Austin wanted to hire an American Indian professor and thought they found one in Dr. Lowe but sadly, they had no idea how to vet his false claims. Everyone who has accepted his lies as truth are his victims.
Link where John claims to be a ‘Cherokee Tribal Member on an NIH funded site and claims to be the first American Indian man to earn a PhD in nursing and to be inducted into the FAAN (a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK586513/
He is currently a guest editor of Archives of Psychiatric Nursing for a special edition regarding the “mental health of Indigenous people”. He got that position by falsely claiming to be “Cherokee, Creek and Lenape”. A bold lie.
The editors of that special edition should be legitimate First Peoples, not lying frauds.
Dr. Lowe is defrauding every tuition paying student and parent who believe they are being taught by a bonafide American Indian professor. How is he getting away with teaching an “Indigenous methods” class? He has no “Indigenous” perspective. He was raised as a white person. What he knows about American Indian people he learned by being a tourist and embedding himself amongst us by lying about being one of us, self-tanning, dying his hair and wearing lots of beads… That’s his brand. And a common pretendian tactic. His utter lack of academic honesty and integrity have resulted in academic dishonesty and fraud by lying about who he is at the most basic level. Everything he has ever done is tainted with lies.
Another harm caused by Dr. Lowe and other pretendians like him is the division and animosity he creates among real American Indian people as we take sides regarding his fraud. It’s more lies and trauma on top of generations of lies and trauma we have still not healed from. Because some will defend him, because like most pretendians, he wormed his way into some hearts early on in his fraud, by claiming to be one of us, and hoping those friends would have his back when others caught on to his fraud. And others will hold him accountable for his fraud. And those two groups of bonafide American Indian people will argue. So we end up fighting over it. Very harmful.
And some defenders will say “but he’s done good works”. Why is it that when white people “do good things”, oftentimes done to center themselves, to make themselves relevant, to protect their fraud, they are seen, heard and lauded so much more than when American Indian people do good things?
As Cedar Sherbert said in an excerpt from his presentation in 2024’s 2ndannual webinar “Unsettling Genealogies”:
“They did such good things” erases the collective work of the (American Indian) community…. Most of all, “they did such good things” tells Indian communities “you’re not smart enough and you’ve done nothing. You’re not capable, but this (non-Indian) person is. Let them speak for you!” It tells Indians to be grateful for crumbs, to accept a status quo of permanent victimhood and elevate one and only one, because too many Indians speaking up at the same time is seen as a threat. And despite all the empathetic and pro-Native sentiment it’s supposed to convey, “they did such good things” in fact reflects a very white, very Western strain of thought that puts the desires and accomplishments of the individual firmly and unquestioningly above those of the collective.”
“Doing good things” does not absolve a person from stealing an identity that does not belong to them. Ethnic identity fraud, often referred to as ‘pretendianism’, is an assault on the inherent sovereignty of every federally recognized tribe. It is disrespectful, offensive and unacceptable.
It is anti-American Indian. Excusing and bypassing this type of fraud enables pretendians to commodify (while at the same time distorting) American Indian history and cultures, including our ceremonies and languages. It contributes to our erasure and genocide, which is ongoing.
Dr. John Lowe must be exposed and held accountable.
END REPORT.
Dr. John Ronald Lowe: paternal line genealogy report
Summary: The ancestors and relatives on Dr. Lowe’s paternal line are consistently listed as white on U.S. Federal census reports, U.S. military records, death and birth records spanning 4 generations.
Claims:
Dr. Lowe over the years has publicly claimed Creek, Lenape and Cherokee (which he says derives from his full blood father) and more recent claims of Osage and Black heritages.
Genealogical Conclusion:
We do not find any evidence of Creek, Lenape, Osage, Cherokee or Black ancestry (although we did find ample evidence of his ancestors enslaving African people for agriculture)
There is no documentation that revealed Dr. Lowe’s ancestors were present on any American Indian rolls, nor did they reside in areas of the Cherokee, Creek, Osage or Lenape Tribes that they occupied pre and post forced removal.
Paternal genealogy:
Father:
LOWE, James Thomas b. 16 Nov 1923 Prince Edward, Virginia, d. 14 Dec 2014 Chestertown, Maryland
Spouse: SEWARD Mary Elizabeth “Bettie” b. 22 Dec 1928 Dixon, Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. 10 Mar 1978 Baltimore, Maryland
Paternal grandfather:
LOWE James Archer: b. 8 May 1886 Prince Edward, Virginia, d. 21 Sep 1960 Farmville, Prince Edward, Virginia
Spouse of James Archer Lowe WOODALL, Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” b. 1882 Prince Edward, Virginia, d. 30 Oct 1933 Farmville, Prince Edward, Virginia
Her parents: WOODALL, John Robert b. Mar 1849 Buckinghamshire, Virginia, d. about 1910 Buffalo, Prince Edward, Virginia
His parents: WOODALL, Robert Obediah b. 1811 New Canton, Buckingham, Virginia, 25 Mar 1881 Buckingham, Virginia
Spouse of John Robert Woodall: BAGBY Paulina Frances “Polly”, b. Jun 1849 Appomattox, Virginia, d. about 1920 Prince Edward, Virginia
Her parents: BAGBY, Josiah J. b. 1824 Prince Edward, VA, d. bef. 1870 Appomattox, Buckingham, VA
His parents: BAGBY, Josiah b. 3 Oct 1796 Buckingham, Virginia, d. 2 Mar 1863 Buckingham, Virginia, CONNER Elizabeth b. 10 Jun 1803 Buckingham, Virginia, d. 1 Dec 1882, Buckingham, Virginia
Spouse of Josiah J. Bagby: GILBERT Judith Albina b. 1825 Amherst, Virginia, d. 30 Apr 1895 Buckingham, Virginia
Her parents: GILBERT, Humphrey Anderson b. abt. 1782 Amherst, Virginia, d. Feb 1862, PENDLETON Pollina b. 1785 Buckinghamshire, Virginia, d. Bef. 1870 Buckingham, Virginia
Dr. John Ronald Lowe: paternal genealogy report
Paternal great grandfather:
LOWE, Thomas E. b. Jan 1855 Farmville, Prince Edward, Virginia, d. 20 May 1932 Prince Edward, Virginia
Spouse: LUMPKIN Martha A. or Martha Annie b. Dec 1856 Prince Edward, Virginia, d. 1929 Prince Edward county, Virginia
Her parents: LUMPKIN William J. b. about 1830 Buckinghamshire, Virginia, d. after 1880 Virginia
Spouse of William J. Lumpkin:
Elizabeth A. “Bettie” Lumpkin b. about 1825 Virginia, d. after 1880 Buckingham, Virgina
Paternal 2nd great grandfather:
LOWE, John Henry b. 1820 Prince Edward, Virginia, d. after 1880 Farmville, Prince Edward, Virginia
His spouse: Julia A. “Lucy” Colley b. 1822 Prince Edward Island, Virginia, d. about 1878 Prince Edward, Virginia
Her parents: Isaac D. Colley b. 1795, Prince Edward county, Virginia, d. 1859 Prince Edward county, Virginia
Icy F. Meadows b. 1796 Prince Edward Island, Virginia, d. 1870 Farmville, Prince Edward, Virginia
Paternal 3rd great grandfather:
LOWE, Holman b. about 1792 Prince Edward county, Virginia, d. after 1840 Prince Edward, Virginia
Spouse: ROWLETT, Martha F. b. 1796 Prince Edward county, Virginia, d.8 Aug 1878 Bedford, Kentucky
Dr. John Ronald Lowe: maternal genealogy report
Mother:
SEWARD, Mary Elizabeth “Betty”
b. 22 Dec 1928 Dixon, Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. 10 Mar 1978 Baltimore, Maryland
Maternal grandfather:
SEWARD, Clarence Dewey
b. 25 Jun 1898 Queen Anne’s county, Maryland, d. 12 Jul 1968 Queen Anne’s, Maryland
His spouse: HOLDEN, Mary Elizabeth b. 4 Nov Dixon, Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. 12 Apr 1974 Barclay’s, Maryland
Her parents: HOLDEN Louis or Lewis Ware b. 5 Jun 1880 Barclay, Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d.28 Sep 1970’ Busic, Queen Anne’s, Maryland
Spouse: COMEGYS, Bessie B. b. Oct 1882 Dixon Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. 1918 Barclay, Queen Anne’s, Maryland
Her parents: COMEGYS, William J. b. 1 Feb 1840 Caroline, Maryland, d. 27 Apr 1917 Spouse: CAHALL, Sarah C. Oct 1840 Dover Hundred, Kent, Delaware, d. before 1920 Dixon, Queen Anne’s, Maryland
Maternal great grandfather:
SEWARD, William B. b. 1 Jan 1860 Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. 13 Jun 1963, Barclay’s, Maryland
Spouse: WALLS, Alice M. b. Mar 1882 Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. 9 Apr 1940 Queen Anne’s, Maryland
Her parents: WALLS, Henry T. b. 22 Sep 1857 Queen Anne’s county, Maryland, d. 9 Sep 1917 Smyrna, Kent, Delaware
Spouse: WALLS (maiden surname), Susan Boyles b. 17 Dec 1861 Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. Feb 1901 Templeville, Queen Anne’s, Maryland
Her parents: Martin F. Wall b.1829 Delaware, d. 20 Jun 1885 Greensboro, Caroline, Maryland
Spouse: Louisa “Eliza” Boiles b. Jan 1836 Delaware, d. 9 Sep 1899 Caroline, Maryland
2nd Great grandfather:
SEWARD James B. b. 1812 Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. 8 Feb 1900 Queen Anne’s, Maryland
Spouse: CLOUGH, Sarah Annie b. Jan 1821 Queen Anne’s, Maryland, d. after 1900, Queen Anne’s, Maryland
History of Slavery
Josiah J. BAGBY 2nd great grandfather, 1850 and 1860 slave schedules, 7 enslaved, did not comply with the Amnesty Oath
William LUMPKIN, 2nd great grandfather, 1860 slave schedule, 12 enslaved
Mildred Sarah CASON, 3rd great grandmother, 1860 slave schedule, 7 enslaved
James Boyd WOODALL, 2nd great granduncle, 1840 census, 1 male enslaved
Henry T. ,2nd great grandfather,1850 slave schedule, 3 enslaved
Cornelius COMEGYS, 4th great grandfather, 1800 census, 7 enslaved
Richard T. HOLDEN, 3rd great grandfather, 1830 census, 16 enslaved
Reuben PENDLETON, 4th great grandfather, 1810 census, 13 enslaved
Mace Humphrey GILBERT, 2nd great granduncle, 1850 slave schedule, 1 enslaved
Source: U.S. Federal Slave Schedule records
Quoted in the Media
Minority Nurse Magazine Fall 2008 edition “Recruiting and Retaining Native American Nursing Students”, Lessons from My father, a lesson by Scott Williams
“Somewhere in rural North Carolina an 85-year-old Cherokee Indian, who never attended school himself can take credit for inspiring his son. Lowe credits his father a full-blooded Cherokee for being the impetus behind his 20-year career”
R.N. Mentor Consulting Ali R. Tayyeb PHD, RN, NPD, BC, PHN February 23, Season 3, Episode 3,
“Dr. John Lowe is a Cherokee Native American tribal member and has Creek and Lenape Native American tribal heritage”
20th annual Littlefield Leadership lecture
“A Cherokee tribal member, Lowe serves as professor in health disparities research”
The Seminole Tribune Dec 1, 2016, by Alex Burnham FSU news staff writer SeminoleTribune.org
“John Lowe a Cherokee Native American tribal member is the newly endowed McKenzie professor in health disparities research”
Emu.edu EMU News February 27, 2019, by Lauren Jefferson FSU professor, a leader in indigenous nursing research, talks health inequities, historical trauma.
“The past is the present”, Lowe says, in acknowledging his ancestors of Cherokee, Creek and Lenape descent, Lowe calls on influences very much alive and present in his work today.
